If memory serves me, the 1620 was a decimal machine that didn't have an
arithmetic unit, add and multiply was performed by trap routines using
table look-up. My first binary machine was an IBM 7094 w/ 32K of 36-bit
words, 4 256/512 bpi tape drives, a 300 card/minute card reader and a
300 lpm line printer (no disk). In '64 we upgraded to dual CDC 3600s
with 32K of 48-bit words each and 32K words of shared memory, 8 tape
drives each, 1200 lpm printers and 1200 cpm card readers; still no
disks. These were the Eastern Missle Test Range's Range Safety
Instantaneous Impact Point computers and there were 2 so that the range
was "Man Rated," supposedly everything had a backup. All s/w was
assembly language because it took 4 u-sec to do a floating point add. I
remember modifying the arithmetic sub-pack used to calculate trig
functions and logs to remove all error returns; these were realtime
routines and if you stopped, you knew you were wrong, if you just got a
wrong answer, you might still be right on the next computation cycle 100
ms later. I didn't learn a compiler language (Fortran-77) until 1980.
Joe
davidturetsky wrote:
>
> Gee, what memories you bring back!
>
> I learned FORTRAN II on an IBM 1620 Model 1 (no disk drive) at NYU in the
> mid-60s, subsequently upgraded to a Model II with a 5meg drive. I then went
> on to do a lot of programming on an 1130
>
> In 1971 I went to work for a company which made a microprogrammable
> replacement for the IBM 1130 which was much faster. Somehow in IBM's master
> plan, the 1130 had too good a price/performance ratio to improve it further
> since that would put it in competition with models like the 360/44
>
> David
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jim Reimer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: *List Linux-Newbie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2000 6:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [newbie] Linux resources online
>
> > I was using a 1620 in 1970, and it was transistorized, not tubes. Had a
> > 5-meg disk drive (14 inch variety, stacked platters) and punched cards.
> > "High speed" output was to punched cards, and if you wanted something you
> > could read, you had to run the cards through an accounting machine. The
> > really hot computer at the time was the IBM 1130 (unless you had access to
> > one of the 360 variants). The 1130 had assembler, FORTRAN, COBOL, and
> RPG.
> >
> > Also had the privelege (?) of using an RCA 301, which had 4k of core
> memory,
> > six vacuum-column tape drives, and a 900-line/minute printer at about the
> > same time. The only thing available on it was assembler.
> >
> > Sure punched a lot of cards on 026 keypunch machines back then. :-)
> >
> > -jdr-
> >
> >
> > Renaud OLGIATI wrote:
> > >
> > > I remember working on a machine with 4 k memory; but this was a
> main-frame
> > > (IBM 1620) using vacum tubes; input and output by punched cards, and
> > > running Fortran II;
> > > Must have been in '68 or '69.
> > >
> > > This was the "obsolete" machine us students were allowed to play with;
> for
> > > serious computing, there was another mainframe, with a hard disk of,
> IIRC,
> > > 4 Mb capacity; memory was 96 kb, raised to 128 kb around 1970.
> > >
> > > And we were told we were priviledged, because our university had one of
> the
> > > most powerful computers in the education system at the time !
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > Ron the Frog, getting old on the banks of the Paraguay River.
> > >
> > > > Anybody else on this list old enough to remember when the "suits"
> > > > didn't run things, and games/software were ported to every single
> > > > platform, just because they could/it was neat? Circa '80's with
> > > > names like Tandy, Atari, Amiga, etc, etc,... ;-)
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > /\
> > > > Dark><Lord
> > > > \/
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > Any sufficiently advanced technology
> > > is indistinguishable from magic.
> > > -- Arthur C. Clarke
> > >
> > > --- http://personales.conexion.com.py/~rolgiati ---
> > >
> > >
> > > -
> >
> > -
> > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-newbie" in
> > the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs
>
> -
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